Medical Staff Services

Last week, I traveled to the Emerald City of Seattle, Washington for the National Association Medical Staff Services’ (NAMSS) 39th Educational Conference and Exhibition. Similar to the recent American Society for Healthcare Human Resources (ASHHRA) conference, the theme for this year’s NAMSS conference, “Embracing Change: A Journey of Leadership,” also focused on leadership.

While physicians deserve the utmost respect for their important role in taking care of patients, the following recent news stories show that there’s bad doctors out there. Fortunately, there are ways healthcare organizations can minimize risk. For example, incorporating a criminal background check in a medical staff credentialing process can help hospitals safeguard both patients and staff. Cases like these are alarming reminders of why background checks are so important.

Dionne Austin, PreCheck’s Director or Credentialing Programs and Product Manager for LicenseManager Pro, has been a key member of the PreCheck family since 2005. This coming October marks her 10 years with PreCheck, and we couldn’t be more excited about this milestone.

I have to admit that this is one of my least favorite topics to write about, but it’s why we are committed to protecting patients from harm through thorough and comprehensive background screening at PreCheck. Although we are only in the second week of February, I read enough stories about bad doctors in the news across the country that I decided to write this article. While the majority of physicians care about their patients, the following four cases prove that some are capable of engaging in some pretty serious criminal behavior.

The consequences of negligent credentialing can be costly to a healthcare organization and its medical staff services department. Organizations that want to renew their focus on credentialing can follow several best practices to protect themselves and ensure they’re doing all they can to remain compliant.

2014 was phenomenal year for the PreCheck Blog. Not only did we double the amount of articles featuring healthcare experts and best practices, but the PreCheck Blog also won multiple prestigious awards, including being recognized as “Best Blog Website” by the Web Marketing Association. As we look forward to another great year of best practices for healthcare compliance, HR, and medical staff services teams, here’s a look back at the top ten most-read PreCheck Blog posts from 2014.

As we say goodbye to 2014, I thought I would review five key trends for physicians in the New Year and beyond. The following trends were included in a recent webinar, “Top 10 Physician Trends You Must Prepare For in 2015”, presented by Robin Rose, Vice President at HealthStream Research.

According to a recent July 2014 article published in The Boston Globe, Massachusetts courts routinely fail to report physicians facing criminal charges to the board that oversees physician discipline. The audit findings are extremely alarming for medical staff services departments and healthcare organizations.

The healthcare industry has been facing major changes, and medical services professionals are no exception. “Things have changed dramatically over the last five years,” says Joel Yohai, MD, MS, a quality improvement consultant at Joint Commission Resources.

As we approach 2015, we wanted to take a look at some of the most pressing issues facing MSPs and their leaders.

To commemorate National Medical Staff Services Awareness Week, November 2-8, 2014, I sat down with PreCheck’s Director of Credentialing Programs, Dionne Austin to discuss the latest trends in medical staff services and her advice for medical services professionals (MSPs) in 2015 and beyond.